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China air passenger traffic halved in first half of 2022 as COVID-19 hit
Updated 13:13, 12-Jul-2022
CGTN
An ARJ21 jet takes off from Shanghai, June 14, 2020. /CFP

An ARJ21 jet takes off from Shanghai, June 14, 2020. /CFP

China's domestic aviation passenger traffic fell 51.9 percent in the first half of 2022 from a year ago as the COVID-19 epidemic restrains travel, official data showed on Tuesday. 

In the first half of the year, the industry recorded 118 million passenger trips, 36.7 percent of 2019 levels, data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) showed. 

April civil aviation passenger traffic slumped to 14.8 percent of the same period in 2019 as several regions implemented different degrees of closed-off management to contain a new wave of COVID-19. 

The sector has been on a gradual recovery track since then with passenger traffic climbing to 46.2 percent of the 2019 level in June. The day passenger traffic volume of civil aviation exceeded one million on June 29, CAAC data showed.

Air cargo traffic has recovered to 87.5 percent of the same period in 2019. The sector transported 3.077 million tonnes of cargo and mail in the first half of the year, a drop of 17.9 percent year on year.

The international air cargo transport increased by 1.8 percent in June compared with the same month last year reflecting elevated market demand, the CAAC said. 

Passengers are queuing for check-in at the Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport in east China's Zhejiang Province, June 30, 2022. /CFP

Passengers are queuing for check-in at the Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport in east China's Zhejiang Province, June 30, 2022. /CFP

While the impact of the pandemic wanes, China has put forward multiple favorable policies to boost travel recovery. The country halved quarantine time for inbound travelers on June 28. It also removed the asterisk on the travel code a day later to facilitate mobility. The mark indicated a person's travel history involving an area with COVID-19 infections. 

Summer is often a peak travel season. The number of passenger flights hit 71,000 in the week from July 4 to 10, a monthly increase of 12.1 percent, comparable with the same period in 2021, said Xu Qing, deputy director of the Transportation Department of the CAAC at a press conference on Tuesday. 

The CAAC is pushing through restoring international scheduled passenger flights in an orderly manner with relevant departments to meet the international travel demand, said Xu. 

The administration will keep on consultations with relevant countries and gradually increase the number of international flights, she added. 

Three major airlines in China unveiled orders of 292 A320neo (New Engine Option) aircraft worth over 249 billion yuan (about $37 billion) from the European multinational aerospace corporation Airbus on July 1, indicating a prosperous outlook for the Chinese aviation market. 

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Airbus speaks highly on great prospects of Chinese market

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